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U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker in Dramatic Escalation With Venezuela; Machado Says U.S. Support Helped Her to Get Out of Venezuela; Senate Rejects Democrats' and GOP's Health Care Bills; Charlie Kirk Murder Suspect Makes First Public in-person Court Appearance; Top DHS Officials Brief Lawmakers on Global Threats. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 11, 2025 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[14:01:02]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We start this hour tracking new developments after President Trump confirmed the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Attorney General, Pam Bondi releasing dramatic video of the operation overnight. American forces seen repelling from helicopters onto the vessel. Bondi saying the tanker was transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. While Republicans today defended the move, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal called it "deeply dangerous." We also heard from Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen, calling the recent action toward Venezuela absolutely ridiculous. Here was the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt responding just moments ago.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: the Department of Justice requested and was approved for a warrant to seize a vessel because it's a sanctioned shadow vessel known for carrying black- market sanctioned oil to the IRGC.

The vessel is currently undergoing a forfeiter process right now. The United States currently has a full investigative team on the ground, on the vessel, and individuals on board the vessel are being interviewed and any relevant evidence is being seized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's get some perspective now with CNN Military Analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton. Col. Leighton, always great to see you. So take us to exactly where this tanker was seized.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So, this is really interesting, Boris, because this is the city of Barcelona right here and just off the coast of Barcelona, right about in that area is where the tanker was seized. So we're talking east of Caracas, which is right about here. That's where this tanker was seized. And it is, basically, just off of the continental shelf, just outside of Venezuelan territorial waters. And it was clearly moving somewhere. They say it was going either to Cuba, potentially eventually back to Iran. So there's certain movements certainly associated with this tanker.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Notably sources indicate that it was spoofing its location. So it was pretending to be somewhere else, even though it was just off the coast of Venezuela. We have video that was released overnight, as we mentioned a moment ago, from the Attorney General. What are we seeing here?

LEIGHTON: So what you see here, you have a helicopter coming in. You see them fast roping off of the helicopter. These are members of the Maritime Special Response Team that the Coast Guard has. It's basically a special operations capability that the Coast Guard has. They are used to doing counter-terrorism operations, counter-drug operations, and they are going right in here. They're going to where the captain of the ship, the skipper actually pilots the ship, and they're going in and they're taking over the controls of the ship. So that's what they're doing and they're putting it under U.S. Coast Guard control.

They had assistance of the U.S. Marine Corps as well as the Navy in putting all of this together. But as you see, as they're moving back away from the tanker, it's a very large tanker, about 333 meters, about a little over a thousand-feet, long. So this is a very, very big ship.

SANCHEZ: We understand that now it's on its way to a U.S. port. There's evidence being gathered. The folks that were on that ship are now being interviewed. But this is a vessel that has a history. It's been sanctioned and the U.S. has been watching it everywhere It's been for some time.

LEIGHTON: Oh, absolutely. And so you had that satellite image here, but this is -- you think this thing is around Venezuela. Well, guess what? Actually, it's been in places as diverse as Port Said, Egypt, right by the Suez Canal which is right there. And then most interestingly, off the Iranian coast right here. So what we're talking about here is the Bab el-Mandeb, the Strait of Hormuz right in this area. And then Khor Fakkan is actually a port in the United Arab Emirates. So it was docked at Khor Fakkan and then it was off the Iranian coast for, we believe, about five days or so recently. So there's clearly some activity going on in terms of oil trans shipment. And what's being done here is they're actually using both Venezuelan oil and Iranian oil, both of which are sanctioned, and they're using those on the global market, selling it to countries like India, China especially, and that's the kind of thing that you're seeing here.

[14:05:00]

So China is the largest customer of this kind of oil, and that is really what is happening from a commercial standpoint here. And we're clearly getting into the international oil trade, the illicit international oil trade, which happens a lot here in the Persian Gulf region as well as in the Caribbean.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. The timing of this, Colonel, is also interesting because you have the Venezuelan Opposition Leader, Maria Corina Machado, saying that she got support from the United States to leave Venezuela, to go to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. Could the fact that she was out of the country at this point have influenced the timing of this operation, or when the United States wanted to carry this out?

LEIGHTON: Potentially. This was a major operation because what you're dealing with here is not only a large tanker, but a large amount of oil.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

LEIGHTON: And if you're going to take this over, you want to make sure that one of your prizes on the U.S. side, which is Machado is safe. And so what they may have done, we don't know for sure, but it is possible that they facilitated her escape from Venezuela, so that she could go to Norway to be part of the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, which she received. And that allowed her to not only go there, make a political statement obviously, but also she wasn't at risk of being caught in Venezuela when this happened.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, appreciate the analysis. Thanks so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We do have some Breaking News from Capitol Hill. The Senate is voting -- the Senate voting down dueling bills from Democrats and Republicans attempting to address rising healthcare costs. Those costs are expected to skyrocket on January 1st as enhanced Obamacare subsidies are set to expire. Republicans are forging ahead into 2026, largely ignoring those subsidies which millions of Americans rely on just to afford basic healthcare needs. CNN's Harry Enten is with us now to break down all of this. Harry, how do Americans feel about these ACA subsidies?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yeah. What horrible politics from Republicans, putting aside obviously the policy, but just in terms of the politics, it's absolutely horrible. Why do I say that? Because expiring ACA subsidies, what are we talking about here? We're talking about 70 percent say extend compared to just 30 percent who say expire. You rarely ever see numbers like this. We're talking more than two to one saying extend those subsidies. Right? And the way you get to there is very simple. You're even getting 45 percent of Republicans or those who lean Republican saying that they should extend them. The Republican base is divided, the Democratic base is coalesced, it's united on this, and the American people are united saying extend those subsidies. That's why I say it's horrible politics from Republicans.

KEILAR: And how do people overall feel about the ACA?

ENTEN: Yeah. OK. This won't be so much of a surprise to you, Brianna. When you see this 70 percent extend, you know that the ACA is probably pretty gosh darn popular, but it's more popular than it's ever been because take a look here. Net approval rating for the Affordable Care Act per Gallup, a decade ago when Donald Trump was launching his first bit for the presidency, it was way underwater at minus eight points. Look at where we are now. We're talking about plus 22 points in the positive. The story of the ACA is one, as Americans have gotten used to it over time, as Trump came into power the first time, it became significantly more popular.

And I will note that among independents, the net approval rating is plus 35 points. Again, this is an issue that divides the Republican base, unites the Democrats. And more than that, the ACA is very popular at this point with independents. So again, with Republicans doing what they're doing, putting aside the policy though that's important, on the pure politics of it, it's just absolutely horrible politics from Republicans.

KEILAR: What about Trump's handling of healthcare?

ENTEN: Yeah. OK. So, if Donald Trump's in charge of the government right now, right, in charge of the executive branch, I think most Americans would say he is in charge of the government. And it doesn't look like they're going to extend those ACA subsidies, which are in fact quite popular. And the ACA itself is quite popular. Donald Trump not a popular guy when it comes to healthcare. I mean, this is from the new AP-NORC poll, what are we talking about? We're talking 29 percent approval on healthcare. That's even worse than his handling of the economy, which of course has been a real anchor for him. 69 percent disapprove and get this, this 29 percent tied for the lowest ever.

And among Republicans, if I was reading the cross tabs right, Brianna, we're talking about 39 percent of Republicans -- of Republicans who disapprove of Donald Trump on healthcare. I mean, you rarely, again, ever see two in five Republicans disapproving of anything Donald Trump does. But on healthcare, they really don't like what's going on, the American people and even a good chunk of Republicans don't.

KEILAR: And this matters so much to people, right? I mean this is about their life and their health. How important are healthcare and cost to consumers right now? And can Trump and Republicans, can they really escape blame if those prices increase?

ENTEN: Yeah. So, we get poll questions that essentially ,ask what's the most important issue to you right now.

[14:10:00]

And you know, you look at them and you just see up and down, this is all about cost. It's all about cost and healthcare is one of those costs, right? The cost of living 36 percent, the economy 20 percent, healthcare or Medicare and social security, you see it there, 17 percent. So it's on that top list of issues, right? Americans at this point just don't feel like they can catch a break. Money consistently taken out of their pocket. It feels like the cost of living is going higher. And if those ACA subsidies are not in fact extended, that of course just adds to the cost burden.

And this whole idea that Donald Trump and the Republicans can escape blame when costs climb ever higher is absolute fugazi. It's fantasy. Why do I say that? Because just take a look here. More responsible for the current economy, the last administration Joe Biden or the current one Donald Trump? 62 percent say the buck stops in the White House with the Republican President Donald Trump; just a third say Joe Biden. So look, the ACA subsidies, the ACA as a whole, the healthcare, this right now is an anchor on Republicans and it's something I think Democrats will be able to use in 2026, especially as we head towards those midterm elections.

KEILAR: Yeah, for better or for worse, you kind of get the credit when you're in power. That's just how it goes.

ENTEN: You got it.

KEILAR: Harry Enten, thank you so much. Giving you a lot of credit.

ENTEN: Thank you.

KEILAR: -- for that great hit. Appreciate it. Still to come --

ENTEN: Oh, thank you. I take a bow.

KEILAR: Yes, bow away. Still to come, polygraphs and paranoia. We have some new details around Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth's use of Signal, including what the Pentagon threatened instead of investigated. And then later, see the heart-stopping moment a skydiver getting trapped on the tail of a plane. This is 15,000 feet up in the air and how he was forced to get himself down. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:16:32]

SANCHEZ: Breaking News to CNN. For the first time since his arrest, we're seeing the person accused of gunning down far-right political activist, Charlie Kirk. This is Tyler Robinson appearing in court right now for a review hearing in Utah. The only publicly released images of Robinson have been from inside the Utah County Jail or on security camera footage from the day of the shooting. Of course, we are following all the developments in this story. We're going to have a full report for you in just moments. Brianna?

KEILAR: Some of the nation's top security officials just wrapped up a fiery House hearing on Capitol Hill. Secretary Kristi Noem and two others were summoned to give testimony on worldwide threats against the U.S. But Noem had to answer hours of questions from Democrats on the president's immigration crackdown. They say Border and ICE agents have deported veterans, children and American citizens. Noem countered that no American has been deported. However, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee urged her to resign.

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REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, (D) RANKING MEMBER, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: You are making America less safe. So rather than sitting here and wasting your time and ours -- more -- with more corruption, lies and lawlessness, I call on you to resign. Do a real service to the country and just resign. That is if President Trump doesn't fire you first.

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KEILAR: There's been a lot of scrutiny of the job that Kristi Noem has been doing from the Capitol, beyond the Capitol as well. Axios reporting that she's "in a bitter feud with Trump's Border Czar, Tom Homan, which details her tensions with him." Let's talk about this now with one of the reporters who co-wrote that piece, Marc Caputo is with us. All right, Marc, first, tell us a little bit, what's going on here? What's with this feud?

MARC CAPUTO, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, AXIOS: That's a great question. It at the very least is personality based. It also might be just sort of power based. Tom Homan is the Border Czar and he's not talking very much, if at all, to the cabinet secretary in charge of the border, Kristi Noem. Now, some have said that there have been accusations of contracting irregularities that have flown back and forth between supporters of each of them. Others have said it's just simply a matter of Tom Homan wanting to be the top dog on border enforcement and immigration, but being unable to handle the fact that Kristi Noem is.

Homan supporters say it's that Kristi Noem is not good at her job and is looking for someone to blame for all of the rumors. So who knows what's true? What is true and what's pretty clear is that these two folks don't like each other and it has generated a lot of heat and a lot of rumors.

KEILAR: How have they responded, Kristi Noem and Tom Homan, to your reporting and what's the White House saying here?

CAPUTO: Well, they have not responded at all. And it's notable that the White House is not denying that the two of them have a rather bitter relationship. One of the sources that we had spoken to, who had spoken to the president, said that unprompted, the president recently had brought up like, Hey, I think Kristi Noem is doing a great job. And yeah, her and Tom don't really get along, but it's going to be OK. They're both doing a great job, sort of typical Trump stuff. The source had informed us that this is kind of the pattern of Donald Trump, as he kind of likes to have people below him feud.

He thinks sometimes that tension and that competition makes the product better, they said. So in this case, Trump is sort of happy with the final product and notwithstanding the clip you had just played there, but what is being sort of left in its wake is this sort of bitter behind-the-scenes feud between these two folks. And nothing really shows signs of abating.

[14:20:14]

KEILAR: How is the Corey Lewandowski dynamic playing into this? Because sources told CNN that Trump himself is actually happy with Noem. But some top White House officials behind the scenes have become frustrated with Corey Lewandowski, who's a long time known confidant who was tapped early on as a special government employee at DHS. CAPUTO: Yeah, all that's very true. in the end, this is sort of a package deal. Kristi Noem brought Lewandowski with her to DHS. She did want to make him chief of staff. The White House had balked at that. I'm trying to find the right words. And as a result, she made him what's called a special government employee, essentially granting him the powers of chief of staff without actually being on payroll. But what that means is that he's able to be on the payroll of other people while at the same time working as chief of staff there.

And this arrangement has also been one of the complaints behind the scenes that we understand supporters of Tom Homan have with the leadership currently at DHS. About last week or so, the rumors started to really pick up that Noem was on her way out. And what's sort of indicative of the way in which Trump world operates is, we couldn't find any signs that Donald Trump himself, just as you had mentioned with your reporting, and your reporters had not found that he's really got a problem with her.

But what we did find is that Noem supporters thought it was Homan's people who were spreading this rumor. And therefore, you have the sort of cycle of backbiting, backstabbing and skullduggery, which is churning and continuing to this day.

KEILAR: Skullduggery is a word not used enough, I can say that. So thank you for using it.

CAPUTO: Indeed.

KEILAR: We were reporting -- CNN was, a couple weeks ago, the White House is preparing for this possible turnover as we're moving towards the one-year mark that could potentially include Kristi Noem. So I mean, I wonder how closely has the White House been watching her hearing today.

CAPUTO: I would imagine, and I haven't spoken to anyone recently about this, that they're doing. They're involved in a lot of things. The big news of the day has obviously been Venezuela, in addition to this hearing. Understand that the White House doesn't really take congressional hearing seriously and I can't really blame them. It's not like a lot gets accomplished at these things. There's a bunch of speechifying. They don't really arrive at any sort of greater truths. And rather than really being hearings, it's more like talkings of Congressmen and Congresswomen who just sort of want to get on TV with their various pithy comments. They don't really accomplish that much. And I'm not sure that this hearing here today accomplished much either.

KEILAR: Maybe I asked the wrong question. How closely is Tom Homan watching --

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: -- has been watching the hearing, do you think?

CAPUTO: I imagine closely. There have been rumors of his supporters wanting people to ask difficult questions of Kristi Noem. We haven't been able to confirm that, but it just gives you an idea of sort of what people are saying behind the scenes and just how tense the relationship is here.

KEILAR: Really interesting stuff. Marc Caputo, great to have you. Thank you.

CAPUTO: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still ahead, the man accused of murdering Charlie Kirk is inside a courtroom right now for the very first time. And today's hearing could decide whether the public has access to images like this one in the future.

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[14:28:06]

SANCHEZ: Happening now, the man accused of gunning down right-wing political activist, Charlie Kirk, is appearing in court. Tyler Robinson is attending a review hearing in Utah and this is the first time we're really seeing him in person, outside the publicly released images of Robinson that have been taken inside the Utah County Jail or from security camera footage on the day of the shooting. CNN's Nick Watt has been watching the proceedings. Nick, part of today's hearing is set to determine how much media access there is inside the courtroom.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris. Most of today's hearing is about, basically, how much we the media and the public will see of this trial. The defense does not want cameras in there. Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, does. She told Fox News, we deserve to have cameras in there. She said the cameras were on my husband when he was killed. They've been on me ever since. We deserve to have cameras in there. Why not be transparent?

Now, we saw Tyler Robinson, as you mentioned, for the first time in person in court wearing that pale blue shirt, a striped tie. His hair sort of awkwardly plastered across the front of his face. Whispering with his defense attorney there, who you see with her back to us. We couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Now, right now, they have gone into closed session because they're talking about how much to redact from transcripts and audio of prior hearings. They're going to talk about that. Then they'll come back out into public session and talk basically, about gag orders and how much we are going to see.

There are lawyers there, obviously, for the state, lawyers for Tyler Robinson, and lawyers for the media. This courtroom, by the way, is just stone's throw, four or five miles away from the scene of the assassination where Tyler Robinson allegedly shot Charlie Kirk dead about three months ago. So, the judge is going to come back into open session. We will see that. And then after a recess, the judge says he will rule today. So today, we should know how much of this trial we're going to see.